It's All In The Family
by Marauding Mara
Summary: AU off-shoot one-shot based on my longterm story My Everlasting Love. Welcome to the world of Erin Black, fifteen year-old daughter to Sirius and Mary Black, where she is about to discover that an overprotective dad is not always as fun as it may seem...


**Author's Note****:**

This one-shot is about Harry and Erin. Yup, you can't get anymore than that. Before I can actually post it, I need to explain which kid belongs to which Marauder and when they were born. I can imagine it's a lot of new information to absorb at once, but I've come up with a eh… little schedule if you will, that will make things easier. The shot takes place in March 1996, and from the HP-series we know that Harry was in his fifth year at this time, so that makes Erin one year younger and the others… Well, just have a look at this:

James and Lily Potter:  
• Harry James Potter (31-07-1980) (15 at time of shot)  
• Lucy Mackenzie Grace and Haley Lisa Grace Potter (04-03-1983) (twins, 13 at time of shot)

Sirius and Mary Black:  
• Erin Dawn Black (27-02-1981) (15 at time of shot)  
• Oliver Sirius Black (10-06-1982) (13 at time of shot)  
• Madeleine Aurelia Zoë Black (24-12-1990) (5 at time of shot)

Remus and Brice Lupin:  
• Samuel Joseph John Lupin (04-09-1984) (11 at time of shot)  
• (Expecting no. 2 at time of shot)

What, no Peter on the list? Nope. In this AU-universe, little Peter took a nice wizarding job in a land far, far away from the UK. Let's just say that I didn't want to have "the rat" anywhere near in this version of a happy Potterverse, haha.

Finally, a hint for everyone who's interested in reading the sequel to My Everlasting Love one day: take a close look at the birth dates of the Marauder offspring and wonder if there's anything striking about one of them…

**It's All In The Family**

It was Saturday morning and a fifteen year-old girl called Erin Black was on her way to the Great Hall to have some breakfast. Her friends had already gone down, but she had lingered in their dormitory because she was looking for her toothbrush which, in the end, turned out to be on her night stand instead of the sink in the bathroom. She could not remember putting it there, but then again, she had been out late last night and wasn't really paying attention to most things when she got back, let alone on where to put her toothbrush after having brushed her teeth.

Erin sniggered to herself when she noticed that two older students were staring at her from across the hallway and she casually flicked her hair over her shoulder, pretending she had not seen them. With her beautiful and somewhat aristocratic-looking face, intense grey eyes and cute nose and wavy brown hair, Erin had inherited the perfect mix of her parents looks. And since a few months, the guys at Hogwarts had started to notice this as well. Erin was feeling very flattered about this development, but usually hadn't paid much attention to it. Until two weeks ago, when she had gone to Hogsmeade with a popular sixth-year Ravenclaw student called Lucas Quinley.

They had had a great time together and since then, they were sort of going out. Sort of, because all they did was sneaking out to the grounds at night and spend some quality time together, but Erin didn't mind. She wasn't really in love with Lucas anyway, just having a bit of fun. However, _he_ was the reason she had been remarkably cheerful all week. Nothing could bring her mood down and kept her from practically frolicking to the Great Hall. Not the depressing March weather, not Professor Snape who had marked her last two Potion assignments with a 'D', not even her best friend Ginny Weasley who had already started to sulk she was being abandoned because Erin spent so much time with Lucas. Erin disagreed: one hour at night was nothing compared to the rest of the day which she mostly spent with Ginny.

Erin walked into the Great Hall and automatically shot a look at the Ravenclaw table. Lucas had already spotted her. He was grinning and winked and she gave him a small smile as she waved back before making her way over to the Gryffindor table. "Hi."

"Found your toothbrush?" Daisy Dickerson, a fellow Gryffindor classmate with straight black hair and so many freckles in her face that she always seemed to have a tan, asked as Erin sat down across Ginny.

She nodded. "Yup. On my nightstand. Merlin knows how it got there, though."

"Oh, I could think of a reason…" Ginny said as she passed her the jar of pumpkin juice, which made Daisy snort up her tea. But her redheaded friend was grinning and her eyes were twinkling, so she wasn't as annoyed as she pretended to be.

Erin shrugged and took a sip of juice. "Sure, go ahead and make fun of me, but what about you and your feelings for a certain Potter man?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I am over him. I'm going out with Michael, remember?"

"Oh, right. Got a chance to tell Ron about that yet?"

Her friend flushed. "Well no… But you know how he is when it comes to me and guys. As long as he hasn't snogged someone, I cannot be with anyone either."

Erin shot her a look as she was putting a rich layer of marmalade on her toast. "Huhum… And you're sure it hasn't got anything to do with Harry? I mean, not telling Ron means he won't find out about Michael anytime soon either."

Ginny glared at her, but her cheeks were colouring even more intently and Erin knew she had won. "I thought so," she said merrily and took a bite of toast.

"Oh, I _do_ see your point, Ginny," Romilda Vane, the most annoying girl in their year, said loudly (for some reason, she was always blatant and Erin often wondered if Romilda was a little deaf). "Michael is not bad-looking or anything, but compared to Harry he's sort of… Eh, second-best. No wait, make that ten-best, or even…"

"Well, thank you, Romilda," an amused voice suddenly spoke behind them, and Erin turned around in her seat.

Harry, one of her oldest friends (their dads were as close as brothers, so they spent a lot of time together from a very young age) was standing behind them. Erin momentarily looked back at a grinning Daisy and Ginny, who was now intently studying the Daily Prophet, and wondered how long he had been overhearing them. "Oh hi, Harry. How are you?"

"I'm fine," he said as he shot a quick look at Ginny before sitting down next to Erin, making sure he was on her right side and not the left, where Romilda was sitting, still staring at him with a somewhat hungry look in her eyes. "But I'm more interested in how you're doing. You and Lucas, I mean."

Erin lifted her eyebrows in surprise. "Excuse me?"

He laughed. "Hey, don't get your wand in a knot over nothing. I'm just curious, that's all."

"Oh. Well, we're having fun if that's what you mean. Um," she continued hesitantly, more than aware of the fact that the other girls at the table were all listening closely. "I guess I'm happy, and-" Her eyes had dropped to a crumpled piece of parchment in Harry's hands. "What have you got there?"

Harry followed her gaze and hastily tucked the parchment in his pocket. "Oh this, nothing. Just a bit of scrap parchment." But he was desperately trying to avoid her gaze.

Erin narrowed her eyes at him. "Harry, what is on that parchment?"

"Ehm, words?" He shot her a quick grin, which she did not return.

"What is it?"

"A letter."

"From who?"

He finally looked up at her. "Sirius," he said quietly, so that the others didn't hear him.

She frowned. "Why would you carry my dad's letter around that long?"

Harry bit his lip and seemed to be unsure on whether or not to answer that question. "Because it's ehm… well, about you."

"Huh?"

"More specifically, about you going out with Lucas."

Erin laughed. She knew her father had a tendency of being a bit over-protective, but she had only just started to go out with Lucas. "But that's absurd! I've only known him for two weeks. How could my father possibly know about that?"

Harry merely cocked his head over to a group of third-year Gryffindors a little ahead, but Erin's eyes had already found an athletic-looking boy with dark black curls and bright blue eyes. "Oliver," she growled.

She jumped up from her seat and stalked over to them, snatched a Daily Prophet from the table and smacked young Oliver right on the head. "Ouch!" he called before looking around to see who had hit him. "Oh, hello sis. A lovely good morning to you too."

"Why did you tell dad?" Erin demanded, her grey glinting with indignation.

"Tell dad what?" Oliver asked innocently while he grinned at his friends and young Sam Lupin, who were all sniggering.

"About me. Me and… Me and Lucas!"

"Oh, that…" he said casually after a pause. "Well, dad wrote me an owl earlier this week, asking how things were and I wrote back to him, explaining what's happening in our lives. You know, McGonagall telling me I'm just as promising in Transfiguration as mum and dad, you hooking up with one of the school's most numerous bachelors…"

Erin glared at him. "Oliver, you insolent little twat! You know how paranoia dad gets when it comes to me having boyfriends." She sighed. "Does mum know about this?"

He shrugged. "As far as I know, no. But tell me, what did dad do to make you so upset?"

"He ordered Harry to spy on me."

"Now I wouldn't call it like that," Harry said as he walked up to them. "I would never spy on you, Erin, you know that."

She had placed her hands on her hips. "Spying, keeping an eye on… It's all giving me the same headache."

Oliver shrugged and asked Harry why their next Quidditch practice had been rescheduled (both of them were on the Gryffindor team, Harry as Seeker and Oliver as Chaser). Meanwhile Erin was biting her lip while she pondered on what to do next. She was positively furious with her father that he was using Harry to keep track of what she was doing with Lucas Quinley and where. She was a little annoyed with Harry that he was listening to him too, but she got the impression he wasn't too happy about it either. Plus, for some reason she could never stay mad at him long. She needed something that would get her father off her back without making Harry feel bad about telling her about his secret "assignment". But that was impossible. Or was it…? "Harry," she asked suddenly, interrupting him and Oliver having a passionate discussion on a particular Quidditch technique. "Could I borrow Hedwig?"

Harry shot her a puzzled look. "Why?"

Erin rolled her eyes, thinking of her cat. "Because it would be considered an act of animal molesting to let Scoot run all the way to Surrey."

"Why won't you use one of the school owls?" Oliver asked, looking interested.

"Like I'm telling you," she snapped before looking at Harry. "Well, can I?"

He shot her a close look before nodding slowly. "Alright, I'll walk you to the Owlery."

They walked out of the Great Hall and passed several corridors without saying anything at all. The weird thing is that they felt completely at ease around each other, even though they weren't hanging out that much in school. Harry was spending most of his time with Ron and Hermione Granger, and she was best friends with Ginny and Daisy, but whenever there was something on her mind, she could always count on Harry.

"So, how happy are you with Lucas?" Harry asked as they were getting close to the Owlery.

"We're just having fun," Erin replied. "But Harry, why were you doing this for my dad? I mean, spying on me? That's so not like you!"

He shrugged. "Guess the protective vibe is a little contagious or something. I do feel like I'm your big brother sometimes who, you know, has to watch over you."

Erin jokingly punched him on the arm. "That's sweet, but I can take care of myself. And my over-protective father, I might add."

"What are you going to do about that?"

She smiled mysteriously. "Could you give me that letter?"

He handed it over and she read what her father had written. "Oh, I know just the thing… You wait," she muttered grimly, more to herself than to Harry, who shot her a confused look.

"I'm going to write to my mother," she elaborated and Harry snorted.

"I guess Sirius is in a lot of trouble now. I wonder what Mary will have to say about this," he said, grinning as he shook his head. "But why do you need Hedwig for that?"

"Mum's at work right now and she receives about thirty owls a day. I need one who stands out in a crowd and a snowy owl will definitely draw her attention. Especially when she realizes it's Hedwig."

"Good point."

They had entered the Owlery and Harry called Hediwg, who immediately fluttered down on his upper arm. "Hi Hedwig," Harry smiled. "Think you can do me and Erin a favour and bring a letter to her mother?"

Hedwig hooted softly and shot Erin an expectant look, who quickly dived into her bag for a quill. "Hang on, I need to write it first." She unfolded the crumpled parchment and used the wall to scribble down a quick note:

_Mum,  
Look what dad did!  
He's using Harry to spy on me.  
This is just all wrong, please do  
something about it. I promise  
that I haven't been irresponsible  
about dating this guy in any way  
and I don't plan to be anytime soon.__  
__Love,  
Erin_

She handed the note to Harry who carefully tied it to Hedwig's leg. The owl gently nibbled his index finger for a moment before spreading its wings and taking off. They watched her disappear from sight behind the clouds and Harry sighed. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Erin smiled and nodded. "Oh yeah. If there's one person besides your dad who can make him see reason, it's my mum."

* * *

"Mrs. Radford, I must say this is one of the finest attempts on a fur spell I have ever seen," Mary said as she was examining a three feet tall ball of fluff, which was keeping a six year-old boy entirely from view. She could still hear him, though. He was whimpering quietly through his fluffy cover.

"Hush darling, it's alright," his mother whispered, patting her son's fluffy shoulder. "Oh, that dratted older son of mine. Always joking around with little Bradley" she said worriedly. "Please, is there something you can do?"

"Oh, don't worry," Mary said with a reassuring smile. "I can undo the effects with one spell. Now Bradley, have you ever tried being a statue?"

The shivering ball of fluff slowly shook its head.

"No? Well listen, it's a really fun game where you have to sit as still as you can. Like being completely unmovable. D'you think you can do that for me?"

The ball of fluff nodded, sniffing.

"Very good," Mary said, smiling. She reached for her wand and pointed it at the fluffy mass. "Ready Bradley? On the count of three: one, two, three." She briskly tapped his head twice and said: "_Abhorreo Renonum_."

There was a bright flash of orange light and the mass of fur slowly but steadily diminished and Bradley reappeared. "Oh darling, you're alright!" his mother cried as he hugged her son close. "So this is it? The fur won't reappear out of nowhere?"

"He will be more vulnerable for growing some sort of fur for another while, but that side-effect will vanish eventually." Mary smiled. "It's just a fluffy little problem for the time being. Nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" Mrs. Ratford echoed in alarm. "We live on a farm!"

Mary nodded and sat down behind her desk. "Ah…Well, if that's the case, I'll just describe him a potion that will suppress that urge." She reached for her quill and scribbled down the prescription. "There you go. Three spoons a day, after each supper."

Mrs. Ratford took the piece of parchment and shook her hand. "Thank you so much, Healer Black."

"You're welcome," she smiled before she bent down to ruffle the little boy's hair. "Goodbye Bradley."

After they had left her office, Mary glanced around the corner of the door and noticed the waiting room was still packed with people. She quietly closed the door, leaned back against it and closed her eyes. It was one of those days… She hadn't had one minute to herself since she arrived. She was already exhausted and it wasn't even noon yet. "Bloody Pierce and his business trips," she muttered darkly, annoyed that her boss was away for the week, meaning she and her colleagues had to take on his clients as well, besides their own patients.

Mary sighed and walked to her desk when her eyes fell on the window-still on the other side of the room. There were about twenty owls fighting each other to sit on it - all carrying boring Ministry letters or reports from downstairs, no doubt – but only one of them caught her eye. A snowy white owl that looked oddly familiar… "Hedwig?" she frowned as she walked over to the window to open it.

"Got a minute?"

Mary turned around and noticed one of her best friends had poked her head around the door. "Brice! Come in, but close the door behind you."

Brice carefully walked inside the office. She was about seven months pregnant at the moment and had started to have trouble with moving around easily. "Come, let's sit down," Mary said as she guided her friend over to the desk.

"Ooof," Brice said when she carefully lowered herself on the arm chair in front of the desk. "I'm alright when I sit down, but honestly, I feel like I'm carrying twins or something."

"Well, are you?"

"Not according to Sauvage, no… I just had a check-up appointment. But gosh Mary, every time I remember that I still have two months to go, I feel like going on a diet at once."

Mary laughed. "Each pregnancy is different, Brice. And Juliette knows what she's talking about. Was everything okay?"

Brice nodded. "Yes. I knew it was, but Remus… He just gets anxious about his… Well, you know what I mean. Every time I see Sauvage she tells me it's alright and I feel happy and then my over-worried husband talks me down." She shook her head. "It's like how it was with Sam all over again…"

Mary shot her a concerned look, remembering all too well how Remus had responded to Brice's first pregnancy. He was terrified that his child would be in trouble because one of his parents was a werewolf, even left Brice for a few months before he realized what he was doing and came back. What a drama that had been… "Do you think…" she asked hesitantly. "That he might run away again?"

Brice looked up, surprised. "What? No, he's not having doubts this time, thank Merlin. He's just really worried, despite how it worked out with Sam."

She nodded. "So why don't you let Juliette talk to him?"

"She did, but he's still anxious, because they cannot guarantee nothing will go wrong."

"And why didn't he come along for your check-up today?"

Brice smiled sadly. "It was the full moon last night, remember?"

Mary facepalmed. "Oh yes, how could I forget! I'm so sorry, Brice, It's just been so busy lately, with work and everything."

"That's okay," she said. "Besides, that's why I'm here. Remus is running out of Wolfsbane."

"I'll let Nate know," Mary nodded. "Wait, I write him a note so that you can go over to him at once and don't have to wait for another hour."

Brice smiled and watched how Mary was writing something down on some parchment in silence when they heard a distinct ticking against the window. "Hey," Brice said as she took the note from Mary. "Isn't that Hedwig?"

"Oh crap, yes!" Mary said as she hurried back to the window to open it, at which almost twenty owls started to "fight" their way inside. "No, no!" she called. "Just Hedwig. I'll get to you lot later."

Some of the owls hooted indignantly, but they let Hedwig pass and the snowy owl gracefully fluttered inside to land on the desk. Mary took off the note before offering the owl some water and sitting down. "I wonder what Harry is writing me for. But…" she said with a confused frown on her face. "This is Sirius's handwriting. And…" she turned the parchment around. "Erin's… What is this?"

Brice looked intrigued. "What does it say?"

Mary looked at Brice. "From what I understand Sirius has asked Harry to keep an eye on Erin and some guy."

"Are you saying Sirius wants Harry to spy on Erin? But that is so unlike him." She snorted.

Mary raised her eyebrows over the edge of the letter.

"Wait, that sounds _exactly_ like Sirius."

Mary sighed and pulled a hand through her hair. "And you thought you had problems with _your_ husband."

Brice chuckled. "Well, all I can say is that I'm glad I won't be in Sirius's shoes tonight."

Mary couldn't help but smile and put the letter in her pocket before scribbling down a quick reply to Harry and Erin and tying the note to Hedwig's leg. "Take care, Hedwig."

They watched the snowy owl fly out of the window and sat in silence for a moment, until the other owls on the window-still started to hoot loudly. "In a minute!" Mary snapped, rolling her eyes before shooting an exasperated look at Brice. "Hex me," she groaned.

Brice laughed. "No can't do. Who else will Heal all those people in the waiting room? For your information, I saw one man with a nose the size of a large zucchini."

Mary forced herself to get up from her seat and helped Brice get up as well. "Give my best to Remus when you see him, okay?"

"Sure. Will you let me know how things turn out with Sirius?"

Mary grimaced. "You mean his new hobby of imitating Agent M from James Bond?"

Brice looked confused. "What?"

"Oh, it's a Muggle thing about the adventures of a secret agent, never mind," she replied, waving a hand. She watched Brice walk away before shooting an apologetic look to the people in the waiting room. "I'll be ready for you soon, but I need to take care of some urgent owls first."

She quickly closed the door before any of them could complain and sighed as she looked at the owls on the window-still, all watching her expectantly. This was going to be a long day…

* * *

However, like always, even this tiring day came to an end, but when Mary finally apparated to their country house it was already half past six in the evening and she was feeling dead exhausted. But the lights were on and indicated that Sirius had already picked up their youngest from her parent's house. And when she opened the door to the kitchen, their five-year old daughter – a perfect copy of Mary with Sirius's eyes and mouth - was sitting in her favourite chair near the fire and he was preparing dinner, which made Mary realize once again how lucky she was to have a husband like him; despite his ridiculous behaviour when it came to protecting Erin. "Hi," she announced as she walked inside.

Sirius looked around and smiled, saying hello, and young Madeleine's eyes lit up at the sight of her. "Mummy!"

"Hi, my little Maddie," Mary said as she crouched down and kissed her cheek. "How were things at grandma and grandpa?"

"We baked cookies," she replied solemnly and pointed to a bowl of fresh and delicious-smelling cookies.

"Oh, that's wonderful, sweetie. I'm glad you had fun."

"She also already ate three cookies and thus, is not that hungry for dinner anymore," Sirius noted from behind the stove, shooting a quasi-stern look at his daughter, who looked guilty and stared down at the table.

"Is that so?" Mary asked, amused.

"Yes," Maddie admitted. "But I am still hungry! I'll finish everything on my plate, promise."

"Good," Sirius nodded as he turned back to the stove, but not before giving a tiny wink at Mary, who smiled and got to her feet. She walked over to him and slid her hands around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm beat."

Sirius added some black pepper to the pasta he was cooking before turning around and kissing her. "And yet you're still the most beautiful woman in the world. I don't know how you do that."

Mary, unable to help herself, blushed. "Charmer," she mumbled and he grinned, kissing her nose. She pulled a hand through his thick dark hair; there were some grey hairs in there now, but Mary didn't mind. She thought it made him look wiser, sophisticated and as sexy as ever. "How was your day?"

He shrugged. "Moody was having another fit because James and I still haven't structured our finished reports. I swear that man is going to have a stroke or heart attack one of these days... But other than that, nothing exciting. You?"

Mary smiled grimly. "When I say that I can't wait for my demanding boss to return from his trip, would that explain enough?"

"I'd say so," Sirius replied, knowing all about Pierce's urge to keep his team members on the top of their game all the time. "But you're home now. Come, let's eat."

He waved his wand around and the plates, glasses, cutlery and a large jar of water zoomed to the table. They had dinner while they talked about what Maddie had been doing at her grandparents, besides baking cookies. Their little girl was determined to show her father that she was still hungry and obediently finished her plate. When Sirius noticed this, he pulled her on his lap and ruffled her hair, telling her she was making him proud and that she could have one more cookie before she went to bed. Maddie beamed like Christmas had come early, and Mary watched them with a smile on her face, inwardly wondering if Sirius would get Oliver or Sam to spy on her when she would be going to Hogwarts for the first time.

When Sirius had brought Maddie to bed and Mary was done with cleaning the kitchen, they sat down on the couch of the cosy living room. Mary knew there was no time to postpone bringing up the dodgy subject any longer and pulled the crumpled piece of parchment out of her pocket. Sirius's eyebrows rose in surprise when he recognized it. "Where eh… Where did you get that?"

"You should read the other side," Mary replied, handing him the letter.

Sirius read Erin's little note and his brow furrowed even more. "She wasn't supposed to find out about this."

"About you letting Harry spy on our daughter?"

He looked defensive. "Not spying, it isn't like that. Just, you know, keeping an eye on her."

"And making him report to you?"

"I'm only interested in-"

"-It does sound like spying to me, Sirius," Mary interrupted, a little annoyed.

He looked down at the note again. "Mare, come on…" he said pleadingly.

"Look," Mary said more kindly as she put her hand on his arm. "I know what you're thinking. Erin going out with guys… She's growing up and it's all going so fast and…"

He shot her an incredulous look. "And you approve of this? She's only fifteen!"

Mary tried to suppress the smile that was crawling up on her face. "And how old exactly were you when you started dating?"

"That's something entirely different!"

"Is it?"

He sighed impatiently. "But you don't know who she's going out with. Oliver told me that boy is one of the biggest players at Hogwarts and even Harry admitted-"

"And what if he is?"

"He… I… I don't know," Sirius sighed. "This is just all too familiar for my liking. Remember you and Randall?"

Mary smiled wryly. "Of course I do. So that's what is bugging you. You think this guy will dump Erin the same way Randall ditched me."

After a long pause, Sirius nodded grimly. She stroke his arm gently. "And what if he does? If that's the absolute worst thing that could happen, what would you do?"

"Storm into Hogwarts and hex that guy into oblivion?" Sirius growled.

Mary laughed. "No, silly! The worst thing that could happen is that he dumps her, she feels sad and hurt and swears off dating all guys until she is really ready for it."

Sirius scratched his nose. "Do you really think so?"

"Oh sweetie, you know Erin. She's just like me when it comes to this."

"Hmmm, alright then. So what do you want me to do now?"

"Giving some space to poor Harry would be good. Also, write a letter to Erin and tell her it's okay to go out with that guy. What's his name anyway?"

"Lucas. Lucas Quinley," Sirius said with a sigh.

"Erin Quinley-Black." Mary snorted. "Wow, so different from Erin _Potter_-Black. Poor Lily, she's going to be so crushed!"

* * *

The next morning, Harry and Erin were having breakfast with the other Gryffindors. He was sitting between her and Ginny, and for some odd reason, Erin could feel a strong tension like firework between those two, waiting to be set off one day. She was just pouring herself a cup of tea when Harry leaned over and said: "You sure Sirius won't want to kill me?"

Erin laughed. "Of course not. He's probably just feeling guilty and stupid, especially now that my mother has had a say in it."

"I find the idea of Sirius listening to anyone but himself so strange," Sam noted. "I mean, it doesn't seem like him at all."

She shrugged. "He just always listens to her, I don't know why. But Sam, the really weird thing is that it also works the other way around. Whenever my mother is freaking out, my father is the only one who can calm her down. Well, besides Lily, maybe."

"Look," Ginny said with a mouthful of cereal. "Owl post!"

They all looked up at the owls flying over the tables. Erin immediately recognized her father's large barn owl that was zooming down towards them. "Ha, I told you so," she said, nudging Harry. "Hi Romolus," she said when the owl had landed right before her and she was about take off his letter. "Have some juice."

Erin quickly unfolded the letter and skimmed its content, once again aware that the whole end of the table was watching her attentively. She could not prevent a smirk crawling up her face and looked up at Harry, who was already trying to read the letter upside-down. "Here," she said as she passed him the note. He laughed when he finished reading it. "Yep, that sounds like Sirius, alright."

"What does it say?" Oliver called from the other end of the table, eyeing the letter curiously.

Harry was about to hand the note over, but Erin managed to snatch it out of his hands just in time. "There's no way I'm showing this to you."

Oliver cocked his head over the side, shooting her a look that oddly reminded her of a puppy. "Awww come on, Erin. I won't ever use it against you, I promise."

Erin looked back at Harry, who nodded, Ginny, who shrugged and Romilda, who vehemently shook her head before making up her mind and passing the note to her brother. "You can do whatever you want with it. I don't care," she said calmly as she stood up and walked to the Ravenclaw table to sit down next to Lucas. However, she could still hear Oliver's bark-like laugh coming from the other table and she couldn't prevent a smile crawling up her face either, because she knew all too well what was in that letter that was making her brother laugh so hard.

_Dear Erin,_

_You are making your old man proud. Here I was thinking I could secretly keep an eye out without you being aware of it, but once again you outsmarted me. Herein lies the keen mind of a true Auror and I'm glad I seem to have passed on the talent to at least one of my children._

I realize I've crossed the line by asking Harry to keep an eye – or, as you, your mother and everyone else has called it – spy on you, but know that I was only trying to protect you from getting hurt. However, all I want for you is to be happy and if going out with this guy makes you feel like that, then so be it.

But (here it comes, and you're welcome to show this part to your boyfriend), if he dares to hurt but one little hair on your head, I will come to Hogwarts and do what your wise grandfather once told me: "If you mistreat my daughter in any way, I will break every bone in your body and rest assured I don't need a wand for that."

-Dad

P.S. Your mother sends her love and says she's proud to have such a responsible daughter. And that you're in for some trouble the minute you do start misbehaving yourself.

**- The End –**

**A/N: Like it or do not like it? Please let me know. Readers who leave honest reviews really are the nicest people! –Mara.**


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